Norman Denning
| Sir Norman Denning | |
|---|---|
| Born |
19 November 1904 Whitchurch, Hampshire |
| Died | 27 December 1979 (aged 75) Micheldever, Hampshire |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | 1921–1967 |
| Rank | Vice-Admiral |
| Commands held | Director of Naval Intelligence (1960–64) |
| Battles/wars |
Second World War Cold War |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire Companion of the Order of the Bath |
Vice-Admiral Sir Norman Egbert Denning, KBE, CB (19 November 1904 – 27 December 1979) was a Royal Naval and Intelligence Officer at the Admirality and Defence Intelligence Staff who served as Director of Naval Planning from 1945 to 1956, Director of Naval Intelligence from 1960 to 1964, and Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff for Intelligence from 1964 to 1965. Denning was a prominent and pioneering figure in naval and military intelligence and established a successful career during and after the Second World War, holding many senior ranking staff positions.
He was born to Charles and Clara Denning in 1904, and his siblings included Alfred Thompson 'Tom' Denning and Reginald Denning. Educated at Andover Grammar School along with his brothers Norman joined the Royal Navy shortly after the end of World War I; despite his bad eyesight he was accepted into the Paymaster Branch. He served as secretary to various senior figures and also worked in supplying naval vessels, but quickly became an expert on naval intelligence. For several years in the early 1930s he served in Singapore and while there was surprised by the number of Japanese fishing and research boats around Singapore, and from his research concluded that the Japanese were in a position where they were able to attack Singapore by land, rather than sea as the British defence plans assumed. He wrote a report and submitted it to the Director of Naval Intelligence, but it was dismissed as him 'over-exercising his imagination'. In 1937 was appointed to the Naval Intelligence Division and attempted to reform the division using lessons learnt from World War I. He was assisted in this by his discovery of a room of old Naval Intelligence papers from World War I and its aftermath, including studies by staff members as to how the unit could be used more effectively and what lessons should be learnt from the use of intelligence-gathering in the war.
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